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In an extraordinary Senate speech Tuesday, Mike Duffy turned his guns on the man who appointed him, charging that Stephen Harper’s own officials at first sanctioned his expense claims but then cast him adrift when the public outcry got too hot.

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Some senators against motion to suspend Duffy, Wallin &amp; Brazeau(CP)

OTTAWA—Sen. Mike Duffy says he was personally ordered by Stephen Harper to repay thousands of dollars in contested living expenses, laying out what he called a “monstrous political scheme” involving allegations of “bribery, threats and extortion.”

In an extraordinary Senate speech Tuesday, Duffy turned his guns on the man who appointed him, charging that Harper’s own officials at first sanctioned his expense claims but then cast him adrift when the public outcry got too hot.

In a Feb. 13 meeting with Harper and his right-hand man Nigel Wright, Duffy insisted his spending was above board.

“It’s not about what you did; it’s about the perception of what you did that has been created in the media. The rules are inexplicable to our base,” Duffy quoted the prime minister as saying.

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Sen. Mike Duffy shields his eyes as he arrives at the Senate on Tuesday. Asked why he decided to come, he said, "The Senate is sitting, it's my job, and despite my doctor's orders I'm here." (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Senator Patrick Brazeau is escorted into the building as he arrives to Parliament Hill in Ottawa. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Senator Pamela Wallin is escorted into the building as she arrives to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 22. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Sen. Mike Duffy arrives at the Senate in Ottawa on Tuesday. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Motions are expected to be debated Tuesday in the Senate that would suspend (left to right) Sen. Patrick Brazeau, Sen. Pamela Wallin and Sen. Mike Duffy. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS file photos)

“I was ordered by the prime minister: Pay the money back, end of discussion,” said Duffy.

Harper’s director of communications Jason MacDonald said Tuesday night that Duffy and Harper spoke after a caucus meeting.

“The prime minister was clear that he should repay any inappropriate expenses. That is the only time the prime minister discussed Mr. Duffy’s expenses with him,” MacDonald said in an email. He did not address other claims made by Duffy.

Harper on Tuesday repeated his line that Wright’s decision to repay Duffy’s expenses “was a decision he took himself.

“He admits it was an error of judgment and he has taken full responsibility for his actions,” he said in question period.

Duffy came out swinging as he urged Senators to reject Conservative moves to suspend him and two other former Tory Senators and strip them of their pay because of their spending missteps.

“I wish I had had the courage to say no back in February when this monstrous political scheme was first ordered. Today you have an opportunity to stand strong and use your power to restrain the unaccountable power of the PMO,” Duffy said.

“That’s what this Senate is about, sober second thought. Not taking dictation from kids in short pants down the hall.”

Jabbing his finger at his former colleagues, Duffy told a tale of alleged betrayal, cover-ups and expediency. His gripping narrative spells more bad news for Harper and his office, which from the start has attempted to minimize its role in the affair.

Duffy said his expenses were sanctioned by Wright, who said there was no problem with his claims, even after questions were raised in the media about the status of his Ottawa home in December 2012.

“In fact, he said, there were several other senators in the same situation,” Duffy said.

But after being ordered to repay $90,172, Duffy said he continued to protest. “Canadians know me as an honest guy. To pay back money I didn’t owe would destroy my reputation,” Duffy said.

But the Prime Minister’s Office “piled on the pressure.

“Some honourable senators called me in P.E.I. One senator in particular left several particularly nasty and menacing messages: ‘Do what the prime minister wants. Do it for the PM and for the good of the party.

“Finally, the message from the PMO became: ‘Do what we want or else,’ ” Duffy said.

If he refused, Wright was blunt — the Conservatives would use their majority on the internal economy committee to declare unfit to sit as a senator, Duffy said.

“However, if you do what we want, the prime minister will publicly confirm that you’re entitled to sit as a senator from P.E.I. and you won’t lose your seat,” Duffy quoted Harper’s top aide as saying.

What followed were “elaborate undertakings” negotiated among at least two lawyers from Harper’s office, one from the Conservative party and his own legal counsel, Duffy said.

He said he had a deal that he would not be audited by external auditors called in to probe the expenses. And if the “phony scheme” ever became public the Conservatives’ top Senator would “prevent my expulsion from the chamber.”

But Duffy says he was pushed out of caucus in May after an email about the deal became public, sparking a heated phone call involving Ray Novak, now Harper’s chief of staff, and Sen. Marjory LeBreton, then Government leader in the Senate.

“The deal was off. If I didn’t resign from the Conservative caucus within 90 minutes, I’d be thrown out of the caucus immediately, without a meeting, without a vote,” Duffy recalled.

Duffy, named to the Senate in 2008, said the pressure and threats on a sitting politician are “serious stuff.

“Are the police looking at possible criminal charges? Are they wondering about bribery, threats and extortion of a sitting legislator,” Duffy said.

“When one’s status as a senator is repeatedly threatened, I believe this amounts to an attack on my independence as a senator and is criminal, or at the very least, a serious violation of my privileges.”

Duffy declined to provide copies of the emails to back up his allegations.

Brazeau also defended his spending on Tuesday and took aim at what he branded a “political abuse of power.”

“If this is the Harper government’s way of believing in democracy and exercising democracy, I think we should all be very fearful. This is a complete joke, a complete farce. And, Stephen Harper, you lost my vote,” Brazeau said.

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